Concentrator



April 7, 1925.

G. E. @ROUSSEAU CONCENTRATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet l Original Filed Sept. 9, l92l llllhllllli IIIIMIIIII Y Geo. E. CLROLL SSQQu,

April 7, 1925.

G. E. C. ROUSSEAU CONCENTRATOR Original Filed Sept. 9, 1921 3 Shams-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

April 7, 1925. 2 1,532,780

G. E. C. ROUSSEAU 4CONGENTRATOR @figiiil Filed sept. 9, 1921 s sheets-sheet a A 0'@ gz n 65 dz 1V I' bl l/g 5 1/7 .1b .5l 51667 I ZO y1Q i Y Y, 11 f6 ,iff :5g E? l gg-:"5"- 4 Eff Z5, 27 ZZ' ZE gag 72 fl Z5 Z6' 2.7 N6 77 11% Patented Apr. 7, 19,25.

UNITED STATES GEORGE E. c. ROUSSEAU, or Onxrneivn,y CALIFORNIA.

CONCENTRA'TOR.

Y Application filed September. 9, 1921, Serial No. 499,440. ARenewed. September 4, 1.924.

To all'wh'om it may concern:

B'e it known that I, GEORGE C. ROUS- SEAU, a citizen of the. United? States, residing at Oakland', in thecounty of Alameda, State of California, have 'in-vented certain new and useful Improvements in Concentrators; and I do hereby decla-re-v the following to tbe' a full', clear, and exact description of the invention, such ais will enable others skilled in the art to which it app'ertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates tov ore separators, and more especially to those working on wet stock and known as washers and the invention includes a grading or separating unit and two or more other units having sliaking tables to which the separated grades of material are respectively delivered.

The broad Object of the invention is to handle a stock mixture consisting of finely crushed mineralized rock and water, by sub-l jecting it first to a separatingprocess whereby the coarse gangue is removed and the remainder of the material is graded, and then subjecting the respect-ive grades to further treatment for removing the line gangue and collecting the concentrates in separate receptacles.

As hereinafter described and as hasbeen found satisfactor the first unit removesthe coarse gangue and separates the remainder into only two gradesalthough it would obviously be possible to separat-e it more finely into a large number of grades and treat these individually. The following specification sets forth one successful embodiment of the invention, reference being had to the drawings wherein:

F igure 1 isa Side elevation.

Figure 2 isa front elevation.

Figure 3 is an elevation of the back end of the machine. y Y

Figure 4 is aA vertical longitudinal section on the line l--Yof Figure 2.

Figure 5 isv a. front elevation with the heads of the unit omitted.

Figure 6 is an enlarged verticalfragmentary view, showing the means. of.y supporting the frontend-of revolving. screens and drums in one of the three units.

Similar numbers. refer to similar parts throughout `the several views.

'IT-he water tight and preferably cylindrical lhousing or casing 1 of the upper unit andthe similar casings 2 and 3 of the twolower units are supported by an appropriate framework 5 in such manner that the different positions ofthe units ywith respeetto each other, will remain unchanged during their operation. The stock to., be treated is admitted from a point above the machine through the hopper 60' and the stock feed 61. The latter by preference a tube projected on an angle through the front head 11 and contains a spirali conveyor o r worm '62 on a shaft 635 .revolved at about 190 R. P. M., by means of the sprocket 64 fastened to shaft 63, chain 65,. and sprocket 81, on the counter shaft' 80.

Extending axially throughA the 'casingl vis a shaft carrying asprocket 12' on its front end which sprocket,` through chain 83, is connected with sprocket 82 onthercounter shaft 80, and by this means gives the shaft 10 a speed of' about 60 R. YMounted on this shaft is a tubular shaft 13- carrying a sprocket 14:, and through chain 84:1, and sprocket 85 on the counter'shaft 80,;the said tubular shaft is given a speed of about 2O P. The solid shaft 1.0` ca-rrieshead's or spiders l15 which. support a tapereddrum 16V open at front and rear. ends formedv from water proof material suoli as linoleu-m and having secured to its outer face a sheet iron casing to produce greater' rigidity.- The drum fiares forwardly from its rear end y and is supported at its forward endby the roller 90, mounted on pin 91, which pin is Securely bolted to the front head 11. This is best seen in F igureVG. The tubular shaft 13 forwardly of the heads 15 carriesheads-or spiders 17 on which are supported twopolygonal and by preference septilateral screens 18 and 19, the i former or inner one being coarser than the latter and. by preference having, its walls-inV parallel relation to those of the lat-ter asfbest seen in Figure The rear' ends of the screens 18 and 19 consist of wire meshof the same neness as screen 19, and the screens-flare forwardly fromtheir rear ends and gradually change` from` poly'- gonal vform at thev rear endsto circula-r at the front ends where they are supported by rollers in the same manner as: described" for drum 16. To prevent the materialsin they times as tast as drum 16. As opening 41 44, acted on by cam 45 attached to sprocket- 14, is automatically opened once during cach revolution of the tubular shaft 13. An outlet46 for second g ade screenings leads from within ythe outer screen 19V through pipe v47 to a Joint above the shakine' table 27 o the lowe-r right han-d unit. ein outlet 'for irst grade screenings leads Yfrom drum 16 Aand casing 1 through the pip-e 48, and hea-d ot the lower left hand unit, to a. point Aabove the shaking table 37 of this unit. The

flow or first and second grade screenings is, as a result of this construction, continuous, but the discharge of coarse'gangue .is intermittent. lvater is admitted under pressure to the stock through the pipes 8 into bot-h upper and lower units and is supposed to fill the screens, drums and casings and from the latter it [inds an overflow or escape through openings 51 ol the upper' unit and openings 52 and 53, or' the lower units. Mounted on the rear end of shaft 10, and maintained in position thereon by means of v the collar piece 57 and springs 58, is a cam disk 54, the same being brought into contact with roller l which is secured to the'rear end ot' casing 1. The rotation of thiscam disk will impart to the shaft 10 a reciprocating or shaking motion which will be transmitted to the screens 18 and 19.

Through th-e center oi the housing or casing 2, ot' the lower right hand unit, shown in Figure 5, is disposed a longitudinal shaft 21, preferably having a sprocket 23 which,

Y through chain 86 and'sprocket on the counter shaft 80, is revolved at about 60 R. l. M., and on the heads o-r spiders 24, carried by this shaft, is mounted a tapered and openended drum v26 formed trom linoleum or similarwvater tight material which hasthe external casing ci' sheet iron for obtaining the necessary rigidity. The front vend of the drum is circular and is supported atthis end by the roller 90 as shown in Figure 6. This dr-um vis spaced from the casing 2 so that the graded material lis permitted to pass between the drum and casing. wardly of said spiders and within the drum 26, above its 'shai't 21, is disposed a t-able 27, which has t-he flanges 25 mounted on the shaft and is engaged with the front head 22, so that it will assume an inclined'position transversely of the drum, as shown in Figure 5, and in position to receive material through the discharge pipe. 47. The table 27, between the flanges, consists of linoleum supported by sheet iron, and is given rigidity by the longitudinal rod 28 through and secured tothe flanges. Means are provided for im- Forparting a reciprocatory motion to the table 27 and the drum 26, and this consists of a cam -disk 72, roller 74, springs 7 8 and collar piece 77, operating in exactly the same manner as that described in connection with upper unit. At the bottom and rear end of the casing 2 there is provided an outlet 120 for waste which discharges through the valve 121, said valve being operated into open position by the cam disk 72, which engages the lever arm 22, and into closed position by the spring 123.

As seen in Figure 2 the outlet pipe 48,` for first grade screenings, is similarly led through the front head of the other' lower unit and deposited o-n top of the shaking table 37 ot this unit whose construction is 7 identical with that of the irst mentioned lower unit. The concentrates which find their way to the outlet 39 orp this unit are of course or' diterent values from those in the concentrate outlet 29 of theright hand lower unit.

Stock material fed through the inlet 61 is delivered into the coarse polygonal screen 18 which removes and discharges the coarse gangue through the outlet pipe 41 and valve 42, the latter being opened once at each revolution of this screen, while at other times the presence of the gangue within the screen tends, to some extent, to p-ulverize the material and to urge the finer material through the screen itself, it being understood that the casing 1 is nearly or quite lilled with water and therefore the screen nearly or quite filled with slime or stock while more is constantly fed thereto by the worm 62. The second grade material withinth-e line screen 19 is delivered through the pipe 47 to one lower unit, and the line grade. material within the drum 16 Vis delivered through the pipe 48 to the other unit. The fine waste that has worked its way through the sides and back of the fine screen 19 is,'by the pressure ot the intlowing water, carried into the open back end of drumV 16 and passes through the outlet pipe 49,V the-nce into the waste outlets of the lower units. The separated or graded material, in the lower units, is subjected to the actions of the reciprocating tables27 and 37 and surplus gangue is carried to the rear and led out by means of the above described waste outlet while the heavier and valuable material is dropped romthetable to the front end off drums 26 and 36 and from there collected into the chambers or outlets 29 and 39.

What I claim is Y 1. In a concentrator, the combination with an upper unit having rotating screens for removing the coarse gangue and grading the remaining material, means Y for feeding slime and water to this unit under a head ol water pressure, and a water outletV having a control valve; of an outlet for the coarse gangue and outlets for the respective grades, other lower units to which the last named outlets .lead respectively, means therein for separating the values from the remaining material and collecting said values, in separate receptacles, and means for reciprocating the screens longitudinally. Y

2. In a concentrator, the combination with a unit comprising a fixed casing, a rotary shaft therethrough, screens carried by the shaft for removing the coarse gangue and grading the remaining material, a waste outlet for the coarse gangue, a valve therein, and cam mechanism on the shaft for opening said valve intermittently; of outlets from said casing for the respective grades, means on the unit for engagement with the cam to reciprocate the shaft and screens longitudinally.

3.' In a co-ncentrator, the combination with a fixed casing, a rotary shaft therethrough, a drum carried by the shaft, and a plurality of nested and placed screens also carried by the shaft within said drum; of means for feeding slime to the inner screen under pressure, a water outlet from said. casing, manually operable means forv controlling the same, an outlet for the coarse gangue to waste, a valve therein, cam mechanism on the shaft for opening said valve intermittently, constantly open outlets for the graded material, on the said casing, and means for engagement by said cam mechanism for reciprocating the shaft and associate drum and screens.

t. In a concentrator, the combination with a fixed casing, a substantially horizontal shaft having a reduced portion and a tubu* lar shaft thereon, said shafts journaled in the casing and having means for removing them independently, an imperforate drum mounted on said solid shaft, and a plurality of nested and spaced screens of different mesh mounted on the tubular shaft within said drum; of means for feeding slime and Water to the inner screen under pressure, a water outlet from said casing, manually operable means for controlling the same, a waste outlet for the coarse gangue, a valve therein, a cam on the shaft for opening said valve intermittently, aprojection on said fixed casing engaged with the cam, and re silient means for urging the cam into en- A gagement with the projection, whereby the shaft and associated drum and screens will be reciprocated longitudinally.

5. In a concentrator, the combination with a fixed casing, a substantially horizontal shaft having a reduced portion and a tubular shaft thereon, said shafts journaled in the casing and having means for revolving them independently and at different speeds, an imperforate drum mounted on said tubular shaft and flaring toward the front head of the casing, a plurality of nested and spaced screens of different mesh mounted onthe solid shaft within said drum and flaring to correspond with the flare of the drum, of an outlet for coarse gangue to waste opening through said front head at a low point within the coarse screen, a valve in said outlet, and a cam mechanism for intermittently opening the valve once at each revolution of said screen, and simultaneously reciprocating the shafts and associated drum and screens longitudinally.

6. In a concentrator, the combination with means for removing the coarse gangue and grading the remaining material under pressure, and outlets for the respective grades; of a unit for treating each grade, the same comprising a fixed casing into which said outlet leads, a shaft journaled therethrough and carrying a drum, a table having flanges loosely mounted on said shaft and under the delivery end of said outlet, a chute in which. the values separated by the table collect, a pipe connected with said chute and leading to a receptacle, a waste outlet from said casing, a valve in the outlet, and cam mechanism on the shaft for opening said valve intermittently, and imparting longitudinal reciprocating motion to said shaft and the associated drum and table.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signa-v ture, in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE E. C. ROUSSEAU.

IVitnesses:

F. M. ADAMS, D. B. CAMPBELL. 

